The Auction
by clcummins12
Summary: A different take on season 1 episode 7: "Home is Where the Heart Stops". "Look, I have money. Anything you pay, I'll pay you back."' What happens when Kate agrees? Please R/R! Rated T, at least for now.
1. Chapter 1

The Auction: Chapter 1

"Thank you all for coming tonight. Now it's time for all of us to open our hearts as we auction off some of the city's finest items for one of the finest causes. To start the bidding, please welcome Martha Rodgers."

Martha made her way to the center of the stage smiling and waving as the applause went wild. She knew that she could be eccentric at times, but having others applaud her, praise her for what she was doing, it always struck something in her that brought a sense of pride throughout her life.

Her son, on the other hand, look horrified as he turned to Powell, the elderly man standing next to him. "What have you done?"

"Just a little payback?" Powell said with a hint of a smile as he motioned back towards Martha.

"Thank you, thank you for that warm welcome." She said as the crowd got quiet, all eyes were now focused up on her. "First item on our list is a signed first edition of Storm Season," she told them, picking up the book and waving it around for all to see. "Written by…well, written by my son." She smiled proudly and glanced around the crowd for only a moment before spotting him in the back. "There he is." She pointed him out as the spotlight followed the direction her finger was pointing until it landed on him. "Wave, darling so everyone can see you." Rick glanced around him with a look of astonishment plastered upon his face. "Isn't he handsome?" Martha's voice continued to speak. "My still single son, ladies." She clarified as Rick slowly raised his hand, waving to the many eyes that were now focused on him; he didn't even have to look beside him to know that Beckett was dying with laughter. "So, as a special bonus the winning bidder will also receive an enchanting evening in his company. Alright ladies, that's the best I can do, the rest is up to you. Ok, do we have an opening bid?" She asked glancing around the room.

"Twenty-five hundred!" one of the ladies shouted out.

"Twenty-five hundred beautiful lady in blue. Thank you so much. Do we hear three thousand?" She asked getting into the energy the auction provided for her as she moved her hand around waiting for another bid. "Three thousand?" She asked once more then added, "Girls, don't be shy." She pointed at the man who had just raised his hand. "We have a gentleman bidder." The man stood, a bright smile upon his face. "Oh, and isn't he attractive?" Martha asked as a few snickers traveled throughout the room, while the man raised his glass in Rick's direction.

Rick forced a smile at the man, as Beckett couldn't help but laugh at the look upon his face.

"Oh my goodness, aren't we broad-minded?"

"Four thousand!" someone else in the crowd shouted out.

"There we have it, four thousand." Martha said after another woman raised her hand. "All right, ladies. The gaunter is down. And this is…"

Martha's voice trailed off as Rick looked over at Powell who was enjoying this entertainment quite a bit. "Now we're even." Powell told him with a smirk.

Rick quickly turned his attention to Kate, chuckling as he spoke, "Look, I have money. Anything you pay, I'll pay you back." He told her hopefully.

"Oh, not a chance in hell, Castle." She told him smiling. She really was enjoying watching him squirm.

"Why not?" he asked then added, "We don't even have to go out on the date."

She thought about it, wondering if she should help him out of this situation or not. The more she thought about it, the more she wished that her and Castle would go on a date—she wasn't going to tell him that though. "Tell you what, Castle." She said after a couple of seconds, "I'll bail you out of this one if you promise not to tell the boys or make this into a joking matter."

"Detective, is it my imagination or are you actually saying 'yes' to the date?" He smiled at her as his heart rate sped up a bit.

"Like I've said before, I like to keep my private life exactly what it was meant to be-private. And if you're involved in it, I'd like to keep it the same way." Then she added, "At least for now."

Castle smiled-she had just agreed to go on a date with him. He knew that he definitely wouldn't hold it against her if she wanted to keep it quiet being the first time they had ever gone out. And he wasn't about to screw up now, he'd been working too hard to get her to trust in him in the first place.

She was looking down and didn't look up at him for a couple of moments. She wasn't usually the type of girl that would basically state she wanted to go out on a date. She had walls and she knew the limits to those walls. Castle, on the other hand, had seemed to try every way possible to bypass those walls and even though she wasn't sure if she could trust him completely, she knew that it was better to give him a chance than none at all. Besides, this was just a first date and if it didn't work out…well she didn't even want to think down that road. She slowly lifted her head, till her eyes reached his.

He continued to smile down upon her. Just the thought of him being able to take her out and take care of her, at least for one night, sent chills down his arms. "Pick you up tomorrow?" he asked, quietly.

She smiled, "Alright." Kate turned her attention up to the front where Martha was still speaking and gesturing to the crowd.

"Last call! Five thousand, anyone? Five thousand?" She asked again looking out among the crowd.

Kate slowly raised her hand.

Martha's eyes stopped directly on hers. "Oh my, Detective Beckett." All heads turned towards Kate. Rick gave his mom a look that told her not to make any foolish comments and Martha caught on quite quickly. "Five thousand, it is! Going once, going twice, sold!"

The room applauded as Martha walked off the stage and down towards Kate-Rick's book in hand. "I'm guessing you probably already have one of these, so here's another to add to your collection." She said making Kate wonder how Martha knew she was such a fan. Martha leaned up to whisper to Kate, "Really darling, he's not worth that much. Besides I'm sure you could easily get him for free if you wanted to."

Kate turned a light pink when Martha told her that, but maintained her composure quite well. She smiled at Martha and took the book that she was handing her. "Thank you, Martha."

"You're welcome, dear. Now if you'll excuse me." She said turning to Powell. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

He took her arm gladly and led her over to one of the clear tables off to the side of the room where he ordered them both drinks and they caught up on old times.

"Sorry about that." Castle said turning towards her.

"How else was I supposed to win the bet?" She asked smiling at him.

"I could have gone up privately and talked to mother. That way they wouldn't know that you won, now everyone in here knows about our," he lowered his voice, "date."

"They would have figured out sooner or later. I still like to keep my private life private, so maybe our date won't have to be too extravagant."

"Too extravagant? Me?" he said, with a mocked horror expression upon his face. "When have I ever gone over the top with anything?" This made her smile and add an eye roll. He laughed, "Alright, fine. I'll pick someplace exclusive-just for the two of us."

"And if the boys find out?" Castle asked.

"You mean _when_ they find out." She clarified, then added, "I'll trust tell them the truth, that you paid me to do it."

"Fair enough, detective. Fair enough." He said with a gleam in his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

The Auction: Chapter 2

Castle looked at himself in the mirror. He straightened his tie for what seemed the thousandth time. He never remembered being this nervous for any of his other dates before, so why was he now?

Kate. Beckett.

Castle thought the name over in his mind. He was still surprised that she had actually agreed to go out on a date with him-he couldn't get over the fact that she had said yes and the way she did it as well. He was still apprehensive about how she would take it when the whole precinct found out about the date, but he decided not to worry about that until it happened. Not only that, but Kate didn't seem too worried about it, hell, she had an excuse ready if it came to that.

The day had gone along quite nicely as well. They found the killer they were after and were able to put him behind bars for good. Kate had then decided that they could all take a break and he was able to take her out for lunch. She had begged him to tell her where they were going that evening for the date, but refused. He said he wanted to surprise her and that's what made him most nervous. What if she didn't like the date he had planned? What if she wanted to do something else? So many 'What if's' came to his mind, but he put them to the back of his brain for now.

He hoped that tonight would go perfect and according to plan. He had spent the entire day working everything out, receiving mysterious phone calls throughout the day that Beckett had eyed him about. He just smiled his charming smile, and then stepped into one of the enclosed rooms in the precinct.

The boys had not said anything about the other night. Castle figured that either they didn't hear about him and Beckett were going on a date or they were wise enough to keep quiet about it so she wouldn't shoot them. Castle didn't mind the teasing, but he understand why Beckett didn't like it. Whenever she came into the precinct, she was all work and no play. Ok, well maybe she had a little more play than he would have thought-he had to admit that there would probably be more flirting going around once they went on their date. He just couldn't stop himself at times.

"Hey dad!" Alexis said popping up beside him the full body length mirror. "Big date?" she asked looking up at him in the mirror.

"Yup." He said giving his tie was last straightening before backing up. "It doesn't seem like I can get this right." He untied the tie and began to try to tie it again.

"Here." She said stepping in front of him and taking the tie in her hands.

"Grams told you, didn't she?" he said as she looped the tie through one of the holes.

"Yup." She said pulling the tie through and giving it one last shake, making sure it was straight. "Honestly, I was kind of surprised that she went along with your plan."

"Me too." He said looking at her. "Normally she discards my ideas, but lately they've proven to be quite useful." He told her smirking.

"Oh, I bet." Alexis said playing along with her dad. "I've heard some of the crazy stories you tell at home, who knows what you come up with at the precinct."

"I'll admit, some of them are quite out there." He said fixing the couple of hairs that were out of place at the top of his head. "But most of them at least have some fact to them."

"Dad, they call it fiction writing for a reason. Most of it is false. For instance, a girl being stabbed in the back and then put in the pool and yet no blood is found around her? Seriously?"

Castle frowned for a bit, thinking. "Alright, I give up. You win." She leaned into him, looking at them both out of the mirror.

"I hope you have fun tonight." Alexis said after a while.

"Me too, sweetie."

"Detective Beckett seems really nice."

"I agree." He told her continuing to look at her through the mirror.

"I just…" Alexis wasn't exactly sure how to put it. "I don't want to sound too much like a parent, that is your job you know." She said smiling at him.

"Alexis, anything you say I will take to heart. If it wasn't for you I probably be as tame as I am today-if you can call this tame." He told her laughing. "Anyways, just tell me whatever you want. You know our rules, always be honest, no matter what."

She leaned in to him, giving him a tighter hug. "Just think if it was just you and grams."

Castle shook his head. "I don't even want to think about that."

Alexis turned away from the mirror to look at her dad. A serious complexion covered her facial expressions. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Hurt? Me? Nahh…" he told her trying to wave it off.

"You may think that Detective Beckett is the only one who keeps her personal life guarded, or whatever you call it in those books of yours. But what you may not realize is that you do too. And you have good reasons for it. I just…I think that Detective Beckett would be really good for you and she wouldn't do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose anyway."

"Thanks, pumpkin." He told her wrapping her up in a hug. "I don't know what I did to raise such a mature, young adult. But I must've done something right." He said, his head resting on the top of hers.

"You've always been there for me and shown me how honesty is the best key. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, you are an amazing dad and I couldn't ask for a better one."

Castle hugged her even tighter. "Alright, what did I do to deserve all this?" he asked jokingly, straining to keep his voice at a normal level so she wouldn't know how much what she said meant to him and how emotional he was getting. "Your birthday isn't for a couple of months, so…"

She laughed, backing up a little to look at his face. "It's not for anything special. It's just because you're a great dad and you should hear it more often. I love you, dad."

"I love you too." He told her wrapping her into a side hug. "Now, what do you say we go see what gram's is up to? It's been way too quiet down there and it's starting to worry me."

"I was just about to suggest the same thing." She said, laughing.

They walked downstairs together laughing .

"Must you two be so loud? I have to learn these lines for an audition tonight." Martha's voice scolded them.

Rick glanced over to see her sitting at the table-a glass of wine in one hand and a script in the other. He walked over to the refrigerator to get himself something to drink as Alexis went to sit by her grandmother.

"We couldn't help it." Alexis told her, bouncing with excitement. "Dad's getting ready to leave for his date with Beckett tonight."

"You mean that girl was serious when she made that bet for you last night? I thought it was all for show." Martha told then added under her breath as she took a drink, "She has no idea what she's getting herself into."

"I can still hear you, mother." Rick said taking out a beer from the fridge. "And just to clarify to everyone, she did agree to go on a date and no she was not intoxicated."

They both laughed at that. "I knew you two would get together eventually." Alexis commented. "We all did. We just weren't sure when."

Rick popped open the lid to his drink and took a huge gulp. "Honey, I haven't seen you this nervous in God knows when." Martha said placing her hand upon his on the countertop.

"Yeah, well she's really important to me and I don't want to screw this up." He told her, wiping his lips off with the back of his hand.

"You won't screw this up, dad." Alexis said, supporting him. "Just be your regular charming self."

"Oh, don't tell him that. That will make her run away screaming." Martha said, as she turned back to look at the script.

"It's not the wisest thing to insult a man when you're living in his house. Free of rent, I might add." Rick told her.

"You know I'm just playing." Martha said waving him off. "Listen to Alexis, just be yourself, have fun and make her laugh."

Rick frowned at that, "Make her laugh?"

"Well I'm assuming she wants to have fun now, doesn't she? Where are you taking her anyways?"

"Mother, if I told you that I'd be afraid you'd show up. Besides, it's a surprise."

"Me? Show up? When have I ever done a thing like that?" she asked acting appalled at the suggestion.

"You mean not counting last night?" Rick asked her, eyebrow raised. "Anyways, I want to keep it a surprise in case it ends up a total flop."

"I'm sure that whatever you're cooking up, Kate will love it." Martha told him, not bothering to look up from her script. "Have you seen the way that girl looks at you?"

"No…" Rick said hesitantly.

"It's so obvious that you both like each other, yet you two seem to be completely obvious about it. I swear they could make a tv show out of the both of you."

Rick laughed at that. "Well we already have a book, so why not?" He threw away his beer and checked his watch. "I'm off! Don't wait up for me. Alexis, you know it's a school night so be in bed by twelve."

"I'll be in bed by ten, dad." She said laughing as he came around the counter to give her a hug.

He kissed the top her head, then leaned in to give Martha kiss on the cheek as well. "Good luck with your play, mother. Break a leg, as they say. And I'll see you later tonight…?"

"Actually, darling, some of the actresses and I are going out after our auditions so I will not be making it back tonight."

"Alright, be safe. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Might not want to say that-that still gives me a lot of freedom, you know."

Rick paused in the process of putting his jacket on. "Never thought about that. You have a point." He slipped his jacket the rest of the way on and grabbed his keys which were by the door. "See you ladies later!" he called opening the door.

"Bye! Have fun!" Both of them said at the same time.

Rick gave them one last wave before closing the door and making his way towards the elevator. If what his mother said was true about Beckett liking him, then he hoped that her true feelings would come out tonight because he knew that without a doubt, his would and he hoped they could take that fearful leap together.


	3. Chapter 3

The Auction: Chapter 3

Kate Beckett observed her reflection in the mirror. Normally she would spend her days and nights observing and analyzing notes in the precinct to try to find a killer. But tonight was different. Tonight she was scrutinizing herself wondering if she should or shouldn't wear the ear rings that she was holding up to the tips of her ears. She would place them up, trying to get a picture of that look in her mind before removing them again and then compare the two pictures. She smiled at herself and got the matching ear ring out of its box and began to try to stick the tip through the small hole.

Once her ear rings were in place she leaned back from the mirror and admired herself completely. She had decided to wear a tight fitting pair of jeans, showing off her backside, she thought smiling. Oh, but she wasn't trying to impress Castle or anything-she was still in denial. True, she realized as everyone did that they both had an attraction towards each other, but she believed that once they had this "date" together, the attraction would be gone. To her it seemed like the attraction they shared was only temporary and once they went out, they would both get it out of their systems. That's what she thought, anyways.

Part of her was sad that this thought had even come across in her brain. Castle was a nice guy after all, and sure he had his faults, but what guy didn't? There were times when she did see him as his mature self. This was one of the things she did in fact love about him, the fact that he could be mature during serious times, but at the same time make her job more playful and fun. It was nice to have a balance; it was something she knew that she needed in her life.

She brushed down the long sleeved, black sweater she was wearing. It fit snuggly on her, showing off the curves of her upper body. Castle had told her that their date would be a surprise, but had warned her to dress warm since it was the beginning of winter. She had agreed, but that didn't stop her from bugging him about it. He would just smile his charming smile and make some off-hand joke that would shut her up, or make her blush. With Castle, you never knew what he was planning. He could decide to take her out of the state for god's sake, but she knew he wouldn't do anything that drastic. Especially not with the interviews they had set up for tomorrow to question another suspect they had for the new case they had just been given. Thanks to him, she had solved the last one by spotting the man who was taking photos at the ball and when he was questioned by Ryan and Esposito, broke down and told them the whole story. This time she had to admit that if it weren't for him, the case may have not been solved.

So she while she was nervous about the date, she was also excited. She had never been on a date with a famous novelist before, and she never thought that the day would come where she would be given the opportunity. She knew that Castle had a reputation for being the bad boy that America loved and knew that he could be a flirt, but she knew that he was truly a good man. _Just look at Alexis for god's sake_, Kate smiled to herself. That child was perfect and people were often surprised when they learned that she was indeed his child. But she could see the similarities between the two and loved when she was able to see them interact to each other, normally it consisted of them swapping roles and Alexis acting like the adult. Although, Castle could get serious when he needed to be, Kate noted.

The last thing she needed was her black boots. Where did she put them, she questioned herself. Just as she was about to bend down and look under her bed, her cell phone began vibrating violently upon her dresser. She abandoned looking for her shoes to answer her phone, wondering if another murder had come up; hoping secretly that one hadn't.

"Beckett." She said into the phone without even bothering to look at the caller id.

"Girl, you always sound so serious when you answer your phone. You need to answer it with a more upbeat tone. I know that you're a workaholic, but you really need to act like you're having some fun in your life, especially since you won't get your freak on with writer boy." Her best friend, Lanie Parish, scolded her over the phone. _If she only knew what was going on tonight_, Beckett thought to herself.

"Sorry about that." Kate said sarcastically, and then cleared her throat, "Good evening! This is Kate Beckett, how are you doing this fine evening?" She smiled as she could just envision Lanie rolling her eyes at that mocking tone.

"You sound like you work at a pizza restaurant or something." Lanie told her, but blew if off with a toss of her hand. "Anyways, I was calling to see if you wanted to get together and get some drinks tonight?"

Kate froze, her mouth gaped open as she continued to hold the phone up to her ear. She wasn't exactly sure what to tell the M.E., because she knew her best friend well enough that she would be able to tell if Kate was lying or not. Many different excuses that she could use ran through her head.

_I'm working-Lanie knew that she had interviews scheduled for tomorrow and therefore had already taken the night off._

_ I'm going out-then Lanie would want to with whom and there was no doubt that she wouldn't figure out it was Castle in a heartbeat. _

"I…" She stuttered for a moment, trying desperately to think of _something_ to tell her friend. "I have a date?" This was said as more of a question, rather than a fact. Kate decided that she might as well tell the truth, knowing the M.E. she'd figure it out eventually.

"A date? And you weren't gonna tell me?" Lanie asked with disbelief.

"I was…I've just been really busy." Kate stated confidently. After all, catching killer's everyday was not easy work.

"Kate Beckett, you finished up your case just the other day-you had plenty of time to come down and talk to me about this."

Ok, so maybe that part was true. "True. But the Captain gave me another case right after that which I had to start working on immediately."

"I would believe that, except a little bird told me that you had easily gotten suspects that night and after you scheduled the interview for tomorrow, you called it a day and went home _early_." Lanie emphasized the word, because Kate Beckett was not the type who would leave work before her shift was up. Normally, she would stay late unless she was forced to go home. "That's when I knew something was up."

"And who exactly was this 'little bird' that told you such things?" Truth is, Kate knew exactly who had told her best friend. She saw the light glances that she and Esposito had been giving each other lately, not to mention the need to be close to one another whenever possible. Lanie thought she was just as sneaky as Kate, but she was too good of a detective to let those minor details go about unnoticed.

"Don't try to change the subject on me. Now, spill." Lanie stated, but couldn't help the smile that formed her lips. She had been smiling a lot more ever since her and Javier had started talking, but she wasn't about to let Kate know that. At least, not yet.

Kate sighed into the phone. She should've known that her friend would not let her off that easy. "Fine." She said giving in. "If you must know, I'm going out with Castle tonight-just as friends." She added, hoping that Lanie would not get the wrong idea.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Lanie exclaimed excitedly over the phone-she had put a lot of money into the two of them. "Tell me everything!"

"There's not much to tell." She admitted. "We just went to the ball the other night and Martha showed up. They had a bidding for one of Castle's books and she conveniently added a date with Rick to that as well."

"You're calling him Rick now." The M.E. said with amusement in her voice.

"Shut up." Kate told her, knowing that the M.E. would just laugh it off, which she did.

"I'm just saying, you've never called him Rick before. Seems like you two are getting close."

"Anyways," Kate said going back to her story, "as they were bidding on him, he told me that he would pay me as long as I won the date. He didn't really seem too fond of the other girl's there."

"Well of course not. He had a beautiful detective right beside, why should he be?"

"Can't argue with you on that one." She said laughing. "At first I agreed."

"Of course."

"Bu then I got to thinking and you know, why not?"

"Especially since you've had a crush on him since day one." Lanie pointed out.

"I have not had a crush on him."

"Kate."

"Ok, so maybe I kinda have."

"Kinda?"

"So maybe a big one. But still, that doesn't mean that I'm ready to date him yet."

"Aren't you going on a date with him tonight?"

"Well yeah…"

"So…"

"I mean be in a committed relationship with him."

"Alright, and I respect that about you and so does he. But at least you're finally giving him a chance. And from the way you two act at work and the way he looks at you-Girl, you'll both be in love with him after this date is over. You may not see it, but everyone else does. He cares about you Kate and though he does pretty damn stupid things, he's one of those guys that will be there for you no matter what."

"And that's part of the problem, Lanie. I'm scared as hell to date him because like you said, we already have a great friendship going. So if we date and break up, then what? He's already something special in my life right now and I don't want that to be ruined by the fact of relationship problems that we'd be bound to have."

"I know, girl. But what you have to realize is that the things that are right for us can carry some of the biggest consequences as well. You just have to have faith in it, in him and in yourself."

Kate sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she walked towards her bed. "I know." She slumped down on the soft sheets. "I just don't know if I'm to that point yet to where I'm ready to put it on the line."

"You're going to have to conquer this fear one day, Kate. Just go on the date, have fun, and then decide from there."

"Right. I will." Her head perked up when she hear knocking on the door. "Shit! Lanie, he's here."

"Have fun girl. And don't forget, you owe me a trip down to the morgue tomorrow to tell me all about this."

Kate laughed. "Alright, I'll try my best not to forget."

"You better not!"

"See you tomorrow, Lanie. Thanks for the help and just listening."

"That's what best friends are for." Lanie told her. "Have fun. Bye."

Kate hung up the phone and turned around to find her shoes which were under the edge of her bed. She quickly slipped them on and walked towards the door. She opened it and couldn't help the smile that blossomed over her face.


	4. Chapter 4

The Auction: Chapter 4

Kate opened the door and couldn't help the smile that blossomed over her face. She saw Castle and in one hand he was holding roses, in the other a small gift bag. He mimicked her smile and held out the flowers.

Nervousness. That was the emotion that had overtaken his body as he stood in front of Detective Beckett with flowers in hand and a small little gift bag that he had picked up before heading over to her apartment. He didn't want to go overboard with the whole 'date' thing, but she was extraordinary to him, and he felt that she should know that. And not only that, but his gift also went along with the date he had planned for tonight.

She took the flowers from his hand, and couldn't help the small blush that tinted her cheeks. She turned back around, deciding she should better find a vase to put them in before them left. "You can come in if you want." She said before leaving, the turned around, "I'm going to find a vase for these."

He took a step in slowly, wanting to take everything in that was before him. He had never been to Kate's apartment before and he wanted to savor the moment while he could. The living room was set before him and he saw a small television with a couple of take out boxes sitting out on the table in front-signs that she never ate out much. He noticed the different pictures she had hung above the wall and noticed a shelf with many different items on it. He walked towards it, wanting to get a better look.

He noticed different plaques and some pictures of her getting awards with other police men and women standing beside her. He reached out and carefully took one of the pictures, from the looks of it, she was really young when it was taken. He held it up so he could see it better in the light. She looked so happy in the picture.

"That was when caught my first killer after being on the force as a detective." She said behind him. He hadn't even noticed that she was watching him.

He set it back down and turned towards her. "I thought you looked a little younger in it." He told her, smiling.

"What, you saying I look old, Castle?" she asked with a tease in her voice.

"Of course not, detective." She could tell that he was going to come back with a witty remarked, but was surprised when he said, "You could never be more beautiful than you are now or any other day for that matter."

She smiled softly before asking, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." He said then looked down, noticing the bag was still in his hands. "No, wait. Actually I have something else for you."

"Castle, you already got me flowers, you didn't need to—" But he held out the bag for her to get, so she carefully took it in her hands.

"I like getting you things." He simply replied.

"But you don't have to." She said before reaching in the bag. A smile lit up her face as she pulled out a scarf and gloves. "Castle…" she stuttered, not exactly sure what to say. "They're beautiful." She said as she observed them, then looked up at him, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Besides, I thought they would come in handy for the date I have planned tonight."

"Which is…" She asked, prompting him to give her a clue as she threw the scarf around her neck. It made her feel warm and cozy and went right along with what she was wearing tonight.

"Good try, detective. But I can't tell you. It's still going to be a surprise."

"Castle, you have to at least give me a hint. How do I know if I'm dressed warm enough?"

He chuckled at her, loving how excited she was about their date. "Trust me, detective." He said running his eyes up and down her body. "You're dressed perfect. And the scarf and gloves will help out too. Although, if you do get cold, you can cuddle up to me for warmth."

She rolled her eyes playfully at him, realizing he was not going to give her any more hints. "You know, I might just take you up on that offer, Castle."

"Rick." He corrected, and smiled, "and just say the word and I will be happy to warm you up in seconds." He held out his arm to her, "Shall we?"

She smiled taking it in her own as they both walked out the door into the chilly night together.

* * *

**Real fast: **

** Sorry it's taken me a super long time to update. I've been busy writing books, scripts, short stories, making movies, all that jazz. Don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I promise it will. **

**Peace!**


End file.
